1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure generally relates to a device management system in which a device management apparatus and one or more image processing devices are connected via a network and the image processing devices are managed by the device management apparatus, and more particularly to a technology of managing jobs of image processing devices each having device information in accordance with the Common Information Model (CIM).
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a device management system which monitors the states of image processing devices, such as MFP (multi-function peripherals) or printers, which are connected via a network, such as a LAN, by using a device management apparatus (or a device management server) is known. By making use of the device management apparatus, a problem in each image processing device can be detected remotely with no necessity for a user to go to the image processing device.
In the device management system according to the related art, a device management service (or a device management function) is provided by the device management apparatus as follows. For example, the device management apparatus periodically collects device information from each image processing device using a predetermined communication protocol. The collected device information is stored in a memory unit provided in the device management apparatus. For example, the device information collected from each image processing device includes an execution state (a service provision state) of each of various software parts provided in the image processing device, an operating state of each of various hardware parts provided in the image processing device, and an execution state of a job including requested specifications. The device management apparatus detects a change of the state of each image processing device based on the stored device information, and performs notification to the administrator and remote control of the image processing devices in accordance with a predetermined device management policy.
In recent years, the managed devices, such as the image processing devices, are arranged to store device information in accordance with the CIM (Common Information Model) which is an object-oriented standardized data model. It is to be noted that the CIM is advantageous over the MIB (Management Information Base) in that addition or modification of information can be easily performed with the CIM, expandability of the CIM is excellent, and extension to cooperative businesses is enabled by the use of the data model of the industry standard.
The device information in accordance with the CIM is managed as CIM objects which are generated from instances of CIM classes. For example, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0226232 discloses a system and method for managing CIM objects. In the system, data access requests to CIM objects and their CIM responses are transmitted between the CIM clients and the CIM object manager (CIMOM). An image processing device with the technology incorporated therein will be able to manage the device information in accordance with the CIM and supply the device information to a device management apparatus in response to a request from the device management apparatus.
However, in the case of the system and method disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0226232, it is necessary to prepare an extension to the CIMOM depending on the content of a data handling request with respect to the device information. For example, it is conceivable that the running of execution jobs on an image processing device is remotely managed by a device management apparatus in a device management system according to the related art. In this case, for the purpose of job management, it is necessary for the device management apparatus to acquire the information with respect to the execution jobs as the managed objects from the image processing device. Hence, in response to an information acquisition request from the device management apparatus, the image processing device has to search and discover an execution job that meets the requested condition among the execution jobs, and has to transmit the information with respect to the discovered execution job to the device management apparatus as the device information.
However, as described above, the information with respect to the execution jobs is managed as CIM objects and there are only classes and instances in the memory area. When a plurality of execution jobs exist, a plurality of CIM objects are generated corresponding to the plurality of execution jobs. Hence, according to the related art, an extension to the CIMOM which controls the transmission of CIM requests and CIM responses has to be prepared to include a job extract function to search and discover an execution job that meets a requested condition. The task for preparing the extension to the CIMOM requires advanced technology with complicated work, which will not be desired by the developer.
Moreover, if the extension to the CIMOM is prepared to include the job extract function, the device management apparatus has to send a request for acquisition of the information with respect to the job to an image processing device by using a predefined command in conformity with the extended specifications. Hence, it has been difficult for the device management apparatus to carry out data handling of the device information by transmitting a query (data handling command) described in a general-purpose language, to the image processing device.
Therefore, according to the related art, the extension to the CIMOM has to be prepared, and it has been difficult to carry out the job management using the device information in accordance with the CIM, by execution of a query described in a general-purpose language.